The great pension hunt

In which our intrepid adventurer sets off to scour the internet in search of long-lost pensions … #PensionAdventure

Photo by Dariusz Sankowski at Unsplash

Boring-but-necessary disclaimer. I'm not a financial adviser and no-one should assume anything I write here is financial advice. It only reflects my experience of looking into my pension.

In the dim and distant past of my career I worked for a couple of companies I don’t have any pension records for. One was a large multi-national travel company and one was a small publishing agency.

So, I decided to use the Pension Tracing Service to see if there are any old pensions attached to those jobs.

First search

I decided to start with the large travel company.

Searching for Find pension contact details brings me to the home screen for the Pension Tracing Service.

There’s the usual big green button for starting now.

Then I have to agree that I’m looking for contact details only for a pension for myself, or someone I have permission from. How do they check, I wonder?

Anyway, I agree.

Am I looking for an NHS, civil service, teacher or armed services pension?

None of the above.

Is it a workplace or personal pension?

It’s a workplace pension.

Do I know the name of the employer who set up the pension?

Yes, although I don’t think they’re called that any more.

(Nerdy writer alert: anyone else think the sentence ‘Do you know the name of the employer, who set up your workplace pension?’ doesn’t need a comma?)

This brings up a search box headed Search using an employer’s name, so I do, and get the name of the employer I used to work for.

When I click on the employer’s name I get another screen showing:

• the current name of the pension scheme

• a drop-down menu showing the scheme’s previous names, and

• contact details – only a postal address and a phone number, no email address. 

I make a note of the details.

Second search

Then I click Search again and go through the same process for the other employer I want to look up - the small publishing agency.

There is no trace of a company using any of the names I have for them.

C

licking No brings up another screen asking if I know the name of the pension scheme. I’m not sure there even was one.

Clicking No again takes me to a screen suggesting I check the name of the company with Companies House, and gives me a link.

The link takes me to the Companies House website and gives me a search box to search for the name of the company.

There are a number of companies with similar names, but none of them look like the right one. They were very small, and I worked there for less than a year, so it’s highly unlikely there would be any pension. But at least I’ve looked.

The final step

I’ve written a letter to the travel company giving them my personal details - name, date of birth, National Insurance number - and asking if they have any pension records for me. (I decided not to bother phoning them in the current climate.) I’ll update this in future if anything comes back.

Update: I’ve now had an email saying they’ve had a good look but don’t have any pension records for me. Top marks to Equiniti for a quick reply!

So, that’s my experience of using the Pension Tracing Service. I hope this helps you find any old pensions lurking in the undergrowth of your work history.

Coming soon in my #pensionadventure: Putting it all together - a pension collection exercise. #LoveYourPension #PensionHowTo